For Aristotle's work, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). Metaphysics is one of the principal works of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name For Avicenna's work, see Avicennism. Avicennism ( is a school of Early Islamic philosophy which began during the middle of the Islamic Golden Age.

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and The four Stanze di Raffaello ("Raphael's rooms" in the Palace of the Vatican form a suite of reception rooms the public part of the papal apartments Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. Cosmology (from Greek grc κοσμολογία - grc κόσμος kosmos, "universe" and grc -λογία -logia) is study In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part It is concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of being and the world. Disambiguation For the Wigwam album see Being (album, for spiritual or religious beingness, see Ego (spirituality In philosophy the World is everything that makes up Reality. While clarifying the Concept of world has arguably always been among the basic tasks of Western ^[1]

The word derives from the Greek words μετά (metá) (meaning "after") and φυσικά (physiká) (meaning "physical"), "physical" referring to those works on matter by Aristotle in antiquity. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. The prefix meta- ("after") was attached to the chapters in Aristotle's work that physically followed after the chapters on "physics", in posthumously edited collections. Aristotle called some of the subjects treated there "first philosophy"

A central branch of metaphysics is ontology, the investigation into what types of things there are in the world and what relations these things bear to one another. In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part In Metaphysics (in particular Ontology) the different kinds or ways of Being are called categories of being or simply categories The metaphysician also attempts to clarify the notions by which people understand the world, including existence, objecthood, property, space, time, causality, and possibility. In common usage existence is the world of which we are aware through our senses but in Philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning and is often contrasted with For other uses of Object see Object. In Philosophy, an object is a thing an Entity, or a Being. In modern Philosophy, Mathematics, and Logic, a property is an Attribute of an object; thus a red object is said to have the property Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence

More recently, the term "metaphysics" has also been employed by non-philosophers to refer to "subjects that are beyond the physical world". A "metaphysical bookstore", for instance, is not one that sells books on ontology, but rather one that sells esoteric books on spirits, faith healing, crystal power, occultism, and other such topics which the philosophic pursuit of metaphysics generally does not include. The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath Faith healing is the attempt to use Religious or spiritual means such as Prayer, mental practices spiritual insights or other techniques to prevent A charmstone is a mineral specimen believed to have Healing, mystical or Paranormal powers or energy The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine hidden secret referring to "knowledge of the hidden"

Before the development of modern science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as "natural philosophy"; the term "science" itself meant "knowledge". Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding For the current in the 19th century German idealism see Naturphilosophie Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature (from The Scientific Revolution, however, made natural philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and by the end of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called "science" in order to distinguish it from philosophy. The period which many historians of science call the Scientific Revolution can be roughly dated as having begun in 1543 the year in which Nicolaus Copernicus published A central concept in Science and the Scientific method is that all Evidence must be empirical, or empirically based that is dependent on evidence In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence.

Contents 1 History of metaphysics 2 Central questions of metaphysics 2.1 Mind and matter 2.2 Objects and their properties 2.3 Identity and change 2.4 Space and time 2.5 Religion and spirituality 2.6 Necessity and possibility 2.7 Abstract objects and mathematics 2.8 Determinism and free will 2.9 Cosmology and cosmogony 3 Criticism 4 Disciplines, topics and problems 5 Notable metaphysicians and critics of metaphysics 6 See also 7 Further reading 8 Notes and references 9 Bibliography 10 External links

History of metaphysics

One of the first metaphysicians is Parmenides of Elea. Parmenides of Elea ( Greek:, early 5th century BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of He held that the multiplicity of existing things, their changing forms and motion, are but an appearance of a single eternal reality (“Being”), thus giving rise to the Parmenidean principle that “all is one. ” From this concept of Being, he went on to say that all claims of change or of non-Being are illogical. Because he introduced the method of basing claims about appearances on a logical concept of Being, he is considered one of the founders of metaphysics. ^[2]

Metaphysics, is called "first philosophy" by Aristotle. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. The editor of his works, Andronicus of Rhodes, is thought to have placed the books on first philosophy right after another work, Physics, and called them τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ βιβλία (ta meta ta physika biblia) or, "the books that come after the [books on] physics. Andronicus of Rhodes (lived c 60 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher from Rhodes who was also the eleventh Scholarch of the Peripatetics " This was misread by Latin scholiasts, who thought it meant "the science of what is beyond the physical. "^[3] In the English language, the word comes by way of the Medieval Latin metaphysica, the neuter plural of Medieval Greek metaphysika. Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the Liturgical language of the medieval Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. ^[4] While its Greek and Latin origins are clear, various dictionaries trace its first appearance in English to the mid-sixteenth century, although in some cases as early as 1387. ^[4][5]

Aristotle's Metaphysics was divided into three parts, in addition to some smaller sections related to a philosophical lexicon and some reprinted extracts from the Physics, which are now regarded as the proper branches of traditional Western metaphysics:

Ontology  

The study of Being and existence; includes the definition and classification of entities, physical or mental, the nature of their properties, and the nature of change. Metaphysics is one of the principal works of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name Physics (or "Physica" or "Physicae Auscultationes" meaning "lessons" is a key text in the philosophy of Aristotle. In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part Disambiguation For the Wigwam album see Being (album, for spiritual or religious beingness, see Ego (spirituality In common usage existence is the world of which we are aware through our senses but in Philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning and is often contrasted with An entity is something that has a distinct separate Existence, though it need not be a material existence

Natural Theology  

The study of God; involves many topics, including among others the nature of religion and the world, existence of the divine, questions about Creation, and the numerous religious or spiritual issues that concern humankind in general. Natural theology is a branch of Theology based on Reason and ordinary Experience, explaining the gods rationally as part of the physical world God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Divinity and divine (sometimes 'the Divinity' or 'the Divine' are broadly applied but loosely defined terms used variously within different faiths and belief systems — A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Spirituality, in a narrow sense concerns itself with matters of the Spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and Faith, a transcendent reality

Universal science 

The study of first principles, which Aristotle believed to be the foundation of all other inquiries. Universal Science is a branch of Metaphysics. Originally the idea of Universal Science came from Plato 's system of idealism, formulated using the teachings First Principles is also the title of a work by Herbert Spencer. An example of such a principle is the law of noncontradiction and the status it holds in non-paraconsistent logics. A paraconsistent logic is a Logical system that attempts to deal with Contradictions in a discriminating way The Organon is the name given by Aristotle 's followers the Peripatetics to the standard collection of his six works on Logic.

Universal science or first philosophy treats of "being qua being" — that is, what is basic to all science before one adds the particular details of any one science. Essentially "being qua being" may be translated as "being insofar as being goes", or as, "being in terms of being". This includes topics such as causality, substance, species and elements, as well as the notions of relation, interaction, and finitude.

Metaphysics as a discipline was a central part of academic inquiry and scholarly education even before the age of Aristotle. In its most general sense discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a Disciple. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Long considered "the Queen of Sciences", its issues were considered no less important than the other main formal subjects of physical science, medicine, mathematics, poetics and music. Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of Natural science and Science that study non-living systems in contrast to the biological sciences Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Poetics refers generally to the theory of literary Discourse and specifically to the theory of Poetry, although some speakers use the term so broadly as to denote Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Since the beginning of modern philosophy during the seventeenth century, problems that were not originally considered within the bounds of metaphysics have been added to its purview, while other problems considered metaphysical for centuries are now typically relegated to their own separate regions in philosophy, such as philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of perception, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. 17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of Modern philosophy, and a departure from the medieval approach Philosophy of religion is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion including arguments over the nature and existence of God religious Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties The philosophy of perception concerns how mental processes and Symbols depend on the world internal and external to the perceiver Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature origins and usage of Language. Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science.

In some cases, subjects of metaphysical scholarship have been found to be entirely physical and natural, thus making them part of physics proper (cf. Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity). Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical This page is about the scientific concept of relativity for philosophical or sociological theories about relativity see Relativism.

Central questions of metaphysics

Most positions that can be taken with regards to any of the following questions are endorsed by one or another notable philosopher. It is often difficult to frame the questions in a non-controversial manner.

Mind and matter

See also: Matter, Materialism, and Philosophy of mind

The nature of matter was a problem in its own right in early philosophy. Matter is commonly defined as being anything that has mass and that takes up space. The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties In Philosophy, hyle (ύλη (ˈhaɪli refers to matter or stuff Aristotle himself introduced the idea of matter in general to the Western world, adapting the term hyle which originally meant "lumber". In Philosophy, hyle (ύλη (ˈhaɪli refers to matter or stuff Early debates centered on identifying a single underlying principle. Water was claimed by Thales, Air by Anaximenes, Apeiron (the Boundless) by Anaximander, Fire by Heraclitus. Thales of Miletus According to Bertrand Russell, "Philosophy begins with Thales Heraclitus of Ephesus ( Ancient Greek: &mdash grc-Latn ''Hērákleitos ho Ephésios'' English Heraclitus the Ephesian) (ca Democritus conceived an atomic theory many centuries before it was accepted by modern science. Democritus ( Greek:) was a pre-Socratic Greek Materialist Philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace ca History See also Atomic theory, Atomism The concept that matter is composed of discrete units and cannot be divided into arbitrarily tiny

Philosophers now look to empirical science for insights into the nature of matter. A central concept in Science and the Scientific method is that all Evidence must be empirical, or empirically based that is dependent on evidence Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Matter is commonly defined as being anything that has mass and that takes up space.

The nature of the mind and its relation to the body has been seen as more of a problem as science has progressed in its mechanistic understanding of the brain and body. MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Proposed solutions often have ramifications about the nature of mind as a whole. René Descartes proposed substance dualism, a theory in which mind and body are essentially quite different, with the mind having some of the attributes traditionally assigned to the soul, in the seventeenth century. In Philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are in some The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living This creates a conceptual puzzle about how the two interact (which has received some strange answers, such as occasionalism). Occasionalism is a philosophical theory about causation which says that created substances cannot be Efficient causes of events Evidence of a close relationship between brain and mind, such as the Phineas Gage case, have made this form of dualism increasingly unpopular. Phineas P Gage (July 9? 1823 – May 21? 1860 was a railroad worker now remembered for his incredible survival of a Traumatic brain injury which destroyed one or both of

Another proposal discussing the mind-body problem is idealism, in which the material is sweepingly eliminated in favor of the mental. In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Idealists, such as George Berkeley, claim that material objects do not exist unless perceived and only as perceptions. George Berkeley (ˈbɑrkli (12 March 1685 14 January 1753 also known as Bishop Berkeley, was a Philosopher. The "German idealists" such as Fichte, Hegel and Schopenhauer took Kant as their starting-point, although it is debatable how much of an idealist Kant himself was. Johann Gottlieb Fichte ( May 19, 1762 – January 27, 1814) was a German philosopher Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Idealism is also a common theme in Eastern philosophy. Related ideas are panpsychism and panexperientialism which say everything has a mind rather than everything exists in a mind. Panpsychism, in Philosophy, is either the view that all parts of matter involve mind or the more holistic view that the whole universe is an organism that possesses Panpsychism, in Philosophy, is either the view that all parts of matter involve mind or the more holistic view that the whole universe is an organism that possesses Alfred North Whitehead was a twentieth-century exponent of this approach. Alfred North Whitehead, OM ( February 15 1861, Ramsgate, Kent, England &ndash December 30 1947,

Idealism is a monistic theory, in which there is a single universal substance or principles. In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence Neutral monism, associated in different forms with Baruch Spinoza and Bertrand Russell is a theory which seeks to be less extreme than idealism, and to avoid the problems of substance dualism. Neutral monism, in Philosophy, is the metaphysical view that Existence consists of one (hence Monism) primal substance which in itself is Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian In Philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are in some It claims that existence consists of a single substance, which in itself is neither mental nor physical, but is capable of mental and physical aspects or attributes – thus it implies a dual-aspect theory. In the Philosophy of mind, double-aspect theory is the view that the mental and the physical are two aspects of the same substance

For the last one hundred years, the dominant metaphysics has without a doubt been materialistic monism. The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Type identity theory, token identity theory, functionalism, reductive physicalism, nonreductive physicalism, eliminative materialism, anomalous monism, property dualism, epiphenomenalism and emergence are just some of the candidates for a scientifically-informed account of the mind. Type physicalism (also known as Type Identity Theory, Mind-Brain Identity Theory and Identity Theory of Mind) is a theory in Philosophy of mind Type physicalism (also known as Type Identity Theory, Mind-Brain Identity Theory and Identity Theory of Mind) is a theory in Philosophy of mind Physicalism is a philosophical position holding that everything which exists is no more extensive than its Physical properties; that is that there are no kinds of things other Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties Eliminative materialism (also called eliminativism) is a materialist position in the Philosophy of mind. Anomalous monism is a philosophical thesis about the mind-body relationship. Property dualism describes a category of positions in the Philosophy of mind which hold that while the world is constituted of just one kind of Substance - the physical In Philosophy of mind, epiphenomenalism, also known as ' Type-E Dualism ' is a view according to which some or all mental states are mere Epiphenomena For other uses see Emergence (disambiguation, Emergent, and Emergency. (It should be noted that while many of these positions are dualisms, none of them are substance dualism. )

Prominent recent philosophers of mind include David Armstrong, Ned Block, David Chalmers, Patricia and Paul Churchland, Donald Davidson, Daniel Dennett, Douglas Hofstadter, Jerry Fodor, David Lewis, Thomas Nagel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, John Smart and Ludwig Wittgenstein. David Malet Armstrong (born July 8, 1926) often D M Armstrong, is an Australian Philosopher. Ned Block (born 1942 is a philosopher of mind who has made important contributions to matters of Consciousness and Cognitive science. David John Chalmers (born April 20, 1966) is a Philosopher in the area of Philosophy of mind. Patricia Smith Churchland (born July 16, 1943 in Oliver British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian-American Philosopher working at the Paul Churchland is a philosopher noted for his studies in Neurophilosophy and the Philosophy of mind. Donald Herbert Davidson ( March 6, 1917  &ndash August 30, 2003) was an American Philosopher, who served as Slusser Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a prominent American philosopher whose research Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born February 15 1945 in New York New York) is an American academic whose research focuses on consciousness thinking and creativity Jerry Alan Fodor (born 1935 in New York City, New York) is an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. David Kellogg Lewis ( September 28, 1941  &ndash October 14, 2001) is considered to have been one of the leading philosophers of the latter Thomas Nagel (born July 4 1937 is an American Philosopher, currently University Professor and Professor of Philosophy and Law Hilary Whitehall Putnam (born July 31 1926 is an American Philosopher who has been a central figure in Western philosophy since the 1960s especially in Philosophy John Rogers Searle (born July 31 1932 in Denver Colorado) is an American Philosopher and the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University John Jamieson Carswell "Jack" Smart AC (born 1920 often referred to as J

Objects and their properties

Further information: Problem of universals

The world seems to contain many individual things, both physical, like apples, and abstract such as love and the number 3. The problem of universals is an ancient problem in Metaphysics about whether universals exist Such objects are called particulars. In Metaphysics, particulars are one might say identified by what they are not they are not Abstractions not multiply-instantiated --i Now, consider two apples. There seem to be many ways in which those two apples are similar, they may be approximately the same size, or shape, or color. They are both fruit, etc. One might also say that the two apples seem to have some thing or things in common. Universals or Properties are said to be those things. In Metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common namely characteristics or qualities In modern Philosophy, Mathematics, and Logic, a property is an Attribute of an object; thus a red object is said to have the property

Metaphysicians concerned with questions about universals or particulars are interested in the nature of objects and their properties, and the relationship between the two. For other uses of Object see Object. In Philosophy, an object is a thing an Entity, or a Being. For instance, one might hold that properties are abstract objects, existing outside of space and time, to which particular objects bear special relations. Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of Others maintain that what particulars are is a bundle or collection of properties (specifically, a bundle of properties they have). Bundle theory, originated by the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume, is the ontological theory about objecthood in which an object consists only

Identity and change

Main article: Identity and change

See also: Identity (philosophy) and Philosophy of space and time

The Greeks took some extreme positions on the nature of change: Parmenides denied that change occurs at all, while Heraclitus thought change was ubiquitous: "[Y]ou cannot step into the same river twice". Larrys Text, lecture notes Larry used to teach a class Feel free to make this page conform to our NPOV policy--remove first-person arguments attribute In Philosophy, identity (also called sameness) is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable in terms of possessing a set of qualities or characteristics Philosophy of space and time is the branch of Philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the Ontology, Epistemology, and character of Space Parmenides of Elea ( Greek:, early 5th century BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Heraclitus of Ephesus ( Ancient Greek: &mdash grc-Latn ''Hērákleitos ho Ephésios'' English Heraclitus the Ephesian) (ca

Identity, sometimes called Numerical Identity, is the relation that a "thing" bears to itself, and which no "thing" bears to anything other than itself (cf. In Philosophy, identity (also called sameness) is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable in terms of possessing a set of qualities or characteristics sameness). In Philosophy, identity (also called sameness) is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable in terms of possessing a set of qualities or characteristics According to Leibniz, if some object x is identical to some object y, then any property that x has, y will have as well. However, it seems, too, that objects can change over time. If one were to look at a tree one day, and the tree later lost a leaf, it would seem that one could still be looking at that same tree. Two rival theories to account for the relationship between change and identity are Perdurantism, which treats the tree as a series of tree-stages, and Endurantism which maintains that the tree -- the same tree -- is present at every stage in its history. Larrys Text, lecture notes Larry used to teach a class Feel free to make this page conform to our NPOV policy--remove first-person arguments attribute Perdurantism or perdurance theory is a philosophical theory of persistence and identity. Endurantism or endurance theory is a philosophical theory of persistence and identity.

Space and time

Further information: Philosophy of space and time

In the Middle Ages, Saint Augustine of Hippo asked the fundamental question about the nature of time. Philosophy of space and time is the branch of Philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the Ontology, Epistemology, and character of Space A traditional realist position in ontology is that time and space have existence apart from the human mind. Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in a Reality that is completely Ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes linguistic practices beliefs Idealists, including Kant claim that space and time are mental constructs used to organise perceptions, or are otherwise unreal. In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg

Suppose that one is sitting at a table, with an apple in front of him or her; the apple exists in space and in time, but what does this statement indicate? Could it be said, for example, that space is like an invisible three-dimensional grid in which the apple is positioned? Suppose the apple, and all physical objects in the universe, were removed from existence entirely. Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of Would space as an "invisible grid" still exist? René Descartes and Leibniz believed it would not, arguing that without physical objects, "space" would be meaningless because space is the framework upon which we understand how physical objects are related to each other. Newton, on the other hand, argued for an absolute "container" space. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements In Physics, the concept of absolute time and absolute space are Hypothetical models in which time either runs at the same rate for all the observers in The container theory of space is a Metaphysical theory according to which Space is a background against which objects rest and move with the implication that it can The pendulum swung back to relational space with Einstein and Ernst Mach. The Relational theory of space is a Metaphysical theory according to which Space is composed of relations between objects with the implication that it cannot exist Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Ernst Mach (max ( February 18, 1838 &ndash February 19, 1916) was an Austrian Physicist and Philosopher and

While the absolute/relative debate, and the realism debate are equally applicable to time and space, time presents some special problems of its own. The flow of time has been denied in ancient times by Parmenides and more recently by J. M. E. McTaggart in his paper The Unreality of Time. Parmenides of Elea ( Greek:, early 5th century BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart ( September 3, 1866 – January 18, 1925) was an Idealist metaphysicist. " The Unreality of Time " is an important paper on the philosophy of time written in 1908 by John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart.

The direction of time, also known as "time's arrow", is also a puzzle, although physics is now driving the debate rather than philosophy. It appears that fundamental laws are time-reversible and the arrow of time must be an "emergent" phenomenon, perhaps explained by a statistical understanding of thermodynamic entropy. Entropy is the only quantity in the physical sciences that "picks" a particular direction for time sometimes called an Arrow of time.

Common-sense tells us that objects persist across time, that there is some sense in which you are the same person you were yesterday, in which the oak is the same as the acorn, in which you perhaps even can step into the same river twice. Philosophers have developed two rival theories for how this happens, called "endurantism" and "perdurantism". Endurantism or endurance theory is a philosophical theory of persistence and identity. Perdurantism or perdurance theory is a philosophical theory of persistence and identity. Broadly speaking, endurantists hold that a whole object exists at each moment of its history, and the same object exists at each moment. Perdurantists believe that objects are four-dimensional entities made up of a series of temporal parts like the frames of a movie. Temporal Parts are used in contemporary Metaphysics in the debate over persistence of material objects

Religion and spirituality

Theology is the study of God and the Nature of the Divine. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Is there a God (monotheism), many gods (polytheism) or no gods (atheism)? Is it impossible to know if any gods exist (agnosticism)? Does the Divine intervene directly in the world (theism), or is its sole function to be the first cause of the universe (deism)? Are God and the World different (panentheism, dualism) or are they identical (pantheism)? These are the primary metaphysical questions concerning theologians. For the Celtic Frost album see Monotheist (album In Theology, monotheism (from Greek grc [[wiktμόνος μόνος]] Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple Gods (usually assembled in a pantheon) together with associated Mythology and Rituals Atheism Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the Theism, in its most inclusive usage is the belief in at least one Deity. Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and created the physical universe and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason alone without dependence on revelation Panentheism (from Greek (pân "all" (en "in" and (Theós "God" "all-in-God" is a belief system Dualism denotes a state of two parts The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two". Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All

Within the standard Western philosophical tradition, theology reached its peak under the medieval school of thought known as scholasticism, which focused primarily on the metaphysical aspects of Christianity. Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th 13th and 14th centuries Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings While the work of the scholastics has been largely eclipsed in the wake of modern philosophy, key figures such as Thomas Aquinas still play an important role in the philosophy of religion. Philosophy of religion is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion including arguments over the nature and existence of God religious

Necessity and possibility

See also: Modal logic and Modal realism

Metaphysicians investigate questions about the ways the world could have been. A modal logic is any system of formal logic that attempts to deal with modalities. Modal realism is the view notably propounded by David Lewis, that Possible worlds are as real as the actual world David Lewis, in "On the Plurality of Worlds," endorsed a view called Concrete Modal realism, according to which facts about how things could have been are made true by other concrete worlds, just like ours, in which things are different. David Kellogg Lewis ( September 28, 1941  &ndash October 14, 2001) is considered to have been one of the leading philosophers of the latter Modal realism is the view notably propounded by David Lewis, that Possible worlds are as real as the actual world For other uses see Abstract In Philosophy it is commonly considered that every object is either abstract or concrete Other philosophers, such as Gottfried Leibniz, have dealt with the idea of possible worlds as well. The idea of necessity is that any necessary fact is true across all possible worlds; that is, we could not imagine it to be otherwise. A possible fact is true in some possible world, even if not in the actual world. For example, it is possible that cats could have had two tails, or that any particular apple could have not existed. By contrast, certain propositions seem necessarily true, such as analytic propositions, e. The analytic-synthetic distinction is a conceptual distinction used primarily in Philosophy to distinguish propositions into two types analytic propositions and g. "All bachelors are unmarried. " The particular example of analytic truth being necessary is not universally held among philosophers. A less controversial view might be that self-identity is necessary, as it seems fundamentally incoherent to claim that for any x, it is not identical to itself; this is known as the law of identity, a putative "first principle". Aristotle describes the principle of non-contradiction, "It is impossible that the same quality should both belong and not belong to the same thing . . . This is the most certain of all principles . . . Wherefore they who demonstrate refer to this as an ultimate opinion. For it is by nature the source of all the other axioms. "

Abstract objects and mathematics

See also: Nominalism, Platonism, and Philosophy of mathematics

Some philosophers endorse views according to which there are abstract objects such as numbers, or Universals. Nominalism is a metaphysical view in Philosophy according to which general or abstract terms and predicates exist but that either universals Platonism is the Philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. For other uses see Abstract In Philosophy it is commonly considered that every object is either abstract or concrete In Metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common namely characteristics or qualities (Universals are properties that can be instantiated by multiple objects, such as redness or squareness. In Metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common namely characteristics or qualities ) Abstract objects are generally regarded as being outside of space and time, and/or as being causally inert. Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence Mathematical objects and fictional entities and worlds are often given as examples of abstract objects. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. The view that there really are no abstract objects is called nominalism. Nominalism is a metaphysical view in Philosophy according to which general or abstract terms and predicates exist but that either universals Realism about such objects is exemplified by Platonism. Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in a Reality that is completely Ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes linguistic practices beliefs Platonism is the Philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it Other positions include moderate realism, as espoused by Aristotle, and conceptualism. Moderate realism as a position in the debate on the Metaphysics of universals holds that there is no realm in which universals exist (against Platonism, Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Conceptualism is a Doctrine in Philosophy intermediate between Nominalism and realism that says universals exist only within the

The philosophy of mathematics overlaps with metaphysics because some positions are realistic in the sense that they hold that mathematical objects really exist, whether transcendentally, physically, or mentally. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. Platonic realism holds that mathematical entities are a transcendent realm of non-physical objects. Platonic realism is a philosophical term usually used to refer to the idea of realism regarding the existence of universals after the Greek The simplest form of mathematical empiricism claims that mathematical objects are just ordinary physical objects, i. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. e. that squares and the like physically exist. Plato rejected this view, among other reasons, because geometrical figures in mathematics have a perfection that no physical instantiation can capture. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Modern mathematicians have developed many strange and complex mathematical structures with no counterparts in observable reality, further undermining this view. The third main form of realism holds that mathematical entities exist in the mind. However, given a materialistic conception of the mind, it does not have the capacity to literally contain the many infinities of objects in mathematics. The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Intuitionism, inspired by Kant, sticks with the idea that "there are no non-experienced mathematical truths". In the Philosophy of mathematics, intuitionism, or neointuitionism (opposed to Preintuitionism) is an approach to Mathematics as the constructive Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg This involves rejecting as intuitionistically unacceptable anything that cannot be held in the mind or explicitly constructed. In the Philosophy of mathematics Intuitionists reject the law of the excluded middle and are suspicious of infinity, particularly of transfinite numbers. This article uses forms of logical notation For a concise description of the symbols used in this notation see Table of logic symbols. Transfinite numbers are Cardinal numbers or Ordinal numbers that are larger than all finite numbers yet not necessarily absolutely infinite.

Other positions such as formalism and fictionalism that do not attribute any existence to mathematical entities are anti-realist. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. In Philosophy, the term anti-realism is used to describe anyposition involving either the denial of an objective Reality of Entities of a certain

Determinism and free will

See also: Determinism and Free will

Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. Determinism is the philosophical Proposition that every event including human cognition and behaviour decision and action is causally determined The question of free will Determinism is the philosophical Proposition that every event including human cognition and behaviour decision and action is causally determined Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language In Logic and Philosophy, proposition refers to either (a the content or Meaning of a meaningful Declarative sentence Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence It holds that no random, spontaneous, mysterious, or miraculous events occur. Randomness is a lack of order Purpose, cause, or predictability A miracle is an event believed to be caused by interposition of Divine intervention by a Supernatural being in the Universe by which the ordinary operation The principal consequence of the deterministic claim is that it poses a challenge to the existence of free will. The question of free will

The problem of free will is the problem of whether rational agents exercise control over their own actions and decisions. The question of free will Addressing this problem requires understanding the relation between freedom and causation, and determining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic. Some philosophers, known as Incompatibilists, view determinism and free will as mutually exclusive. For other uses of each of these words see Compatibility. Compatibilism is the belief that Free will and Determinism are In simple terms two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot occur at the same time (i If they believe in determinism, they will therefore believe free will to be an illusion, a position known as Hard Determinism. Proponents range from Baruch Spinoza to Ted Honderich. Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, Ted Honderich (born 1933 is a British philosopher Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic University College London and Visiting Professor

Others, labeled Compatibilists (or "Soft Determinists"), believe that the two ideas can be coherently reconciled. For other uses of each of these words see Compatibility. Compatibilism is the belief that Free will and Determinism are Adherents of this view include Thomas Hobbes and many modern philosophers. Thomas Hobbes (born 5 April 1588died 4 December 1679 was an English philosopher, whose famous 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation

Incompatibilists who accept free will but reject determinism are called Libertarians, a term not to be confused with the political sense. The question of free will Libertarianism is a philosophical position in Metaphysics with respect to Free will and Determinism. Robert Kane is a modern defender of this theory. Robert Kane may refer to Bob Kane (1915&ndash1998 born as Robert Kahn co-creator of Batman.

It is a popular misconception that determinism necessarily entails that humanity or individual humans have no influence on the future and its events ( a position known as Fatalism). Fatalism is a Philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or inevitable predetermination Determinists, however, believe that the level to which human beings have influence over their future is itself dependent on present and past.

Cosmology and cosmogony

See also: Cosmology (metaphysics)

Cosmology is the branch of metaphysics that deals with the world as the totality of all phenomena in space and time. See Cosmology (disambiguation. Cosmology is the branch of Philosophy and Metaphysics that deals with the World "The world " is a proper noun for the planet Earth envisioned from an Anthropocentric or Human Worldview, as a place A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of Historically, it has had quite a broad scope, and in many cases was founded in religion. The ancient Greeks did not draw a distinction between this use and their model for the cosmos. However, in modern use it addresses questions about the Universe which are beyond the scope of physical science. It is distinguished from religious cosmology in that it approaches these questions using philosophical methods (e. g. dialectics). In classical Philosophy, dialectic (διαλεκτική is controversy the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating Propositions Cosmogony deals specifically with the origin of the universe. This article discusses scientific theories of creation (cosmogony

Modern metaphysical cosmology and cosmogony try to address questions such as:

• What is the origin of the Universe? What is its first cause? Is its existence necessary? (see monism, pantheism, emanationism and creationism)
• What are the ultimate material components of the Universe? (see mechanism, dynamism, hylomorphism, atomism)
• What is the ultimate reason for the existence of the Universe? Does the cosmos have a purpose? (see teleology)

Criticism

Metaphysics has been attacked, at different times in history, as being futile and overly vague, or of no use entirely. Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All Emanationism is Platonic monism and an idea in the Cosmology or Cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems "Creationism" can also refer to Creation myths in general or to a concept about the origin of the soul. In Philosophy, mechanism is a Theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes Hylomorphism ( Greek hylo-, "wood matter" + -morphism morphē, "form" is the philosophical theory In Natural philosophy, atomism is the theory that all the objects in the universe are composed of very small indestructible building blocks - Atoms Or stated in Teleology ( Greek: telos: end purpose is the philosophical study of design and Purpose.

David Hume argued with his empiricist principle that all knowledge involves either relations of ideas or matters of fact:

If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.

– An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Immanuel Kant prescribed a limited role to the subject and argued against knowledge progressing beyond the world of our representations, except to knowledge that the noumena exist:

. An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is a book by the Scottish Empiricist and Philosopher David Hume, published in 1748 Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg "Noumena" redirects here For the band see Noumena (band. . . though we cannot know these objects as things in themselves, we must yet be in a position at least to think them as things in themselves; otherwise we should be landed in the absurd conclusion that there can be appearance without anything that appears.

– Critique of Pure Reason pp. The Critique of Pure Reason (Kritik der reinen Vernunft by Immanuel Kant, first published in 1781, second edition 1787, is one Bxxvi-xxvii

A.J. Ayer is famous for leading a "revolt against metaphysics," where he claimed that its propositions were meaningless in his book "Language, Truth and Logic". Sir Alfred Jules ("Freddie" Ayer ( October 29, 1910 &ndash June 27, 1989) better known as A Ayer was a defender of verifiability theory of meaning. A verificationist is someone who adheres to the verification principle proposed by A British universities became less concerned with the area for much of the mid 20th century. However, metaphysics has seen a reemergence in recent times among some philosophy departments due to the perceived failure of verificationism.

Writers in so-called Continental philosophy have often elaborated views against metaphysics. Continental philosophy, in contemporary usage refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe Martin Heidegger sees the history of western philosophy as being constituted by "forgetfulness of Being" and calls this thought "metaphysical". Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher Such thought looks beyond beings towards their ground (zum Grund), aiming at a fundamentam absolutum, such as the Platonic Idea or the Kantian thing-in-itself, "Ding an sich". For example, Descartes finds such a "fundamentam absolutum" through the "ego cogito", the self-certain subject. This thinking construes the world as object for this self-certain subject, but does not question or evaluate its own presuppositions about the nature of Being. For Heidegger, such thinking "forgets" the question of Being, and sees this "forgetfulness" as symptomatic of metaphysical thought, or of Western philosophy since Plato (but not including Pre-Socratic_philosophy). Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece The Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were active before Socrates or contemporaneously but expounding knowledge developed earlier Jaques Derrida could be said to continue, if tenuously, Heidegger's project of "overcoming metaphysics". Crucially, metaphysics is seen by both thinkers as something one cannot simply step outside of or escape, since a rejection of this form is already in itself a metaphysical maneuver. Heidegger conceives of a process of "overcoming metaphysics" through, for example, what he calls Poetry ("Dichtung"), or "Thinking", or non-metaphysical "awareness of Being".

Another view is that metaphysical statements are not meaningless statements, but rather that they are generally not fallible, testable or provable statements (see Karl Popper). Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor That is to say, there is no valid set of empirical observations nor a valid set of logical arguments, which could definitively prove metaphysical statements to be true or false. Hence, a metaphysical statement usually implies an idea about the world or about the universe, which may seem reasonable but is ultimately not empirically verifiable. That idea could be changed in a non-arbitrary way, based on experience or argument, yet there exists no evidence or argument so compelling that it could rationally force a change in that idea, in the sense of definitely proving it false.

Disciplines, topics and problems

Disciplines Natural philosophy Ontology Philosophy of religion Philosophy of mind Philosophy of perception

Topics and problems Identity and change Problem of free will The nature of time The nature of the mind

Notable metaphysicians and critics of metaphysics

Aristotle David Malet Armstrong St. Thomas Aquinas St. Augustine Avicenna (Ibn Sina) George Berkeley Boethius The Buddha David Chalmers Roderick Chisholm Ananda Coomaraswamy Darren Daulton Donald Davidson Gilles Deleuze

Muhammad Iqbal René Descartes René Guénon Georg W. F. Hegel Martin Heidegger David Hume Edmund Husserl Peter van Inwagen Immanuel Kant Mahmoud Khatami Jaegwon Kim Saul Kripke Emmanuel Lévinas

Gottfried Leibniz David Lewis John Locke J. M. E. McTaggart George Edward Moore Thomas Nagel Friedrich Nietzsche Derek Parfit Parmenides Charles Sanders Peirce Robert Pirsig Alvin Plantinga Plato Plotinus Hilary Putnam

Willard V. O. Quine Richard Rorty Bertrand Russell Jean-Paul Sartre Arthur Schopenhauer John Duns Scotus Wilfrid Sellars J. J. C. Smart Baruch Spinoza Rudolf Steiner Richard Swinburne Alfred North Whitehead Ludwig Wittgenstein

See also

Advaita Dvaita Buddhist philosophy Cosmology Common-sense metaphysics Dualism The elimination of metaphysics (Vienna Circle) Epistemology Idealism Logical positivism Materialism Metaethics Metaphysics of Quality Monism Mysticism Nihilism Ontology Personal Identity Philosophy

Philosophy of Language Philosophy of Mathematics Philosophy of Mind Philosophy of Religion Pluralism Pratitya-samutpada Realism Reason Quantum metaphysics Simulated reality Substance Taoism Theology Theory of everything Time Time Travel Transcendence Transcendental Phenomenology

Further reading

• The London Philosophy Study Guide offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the subject: Logic & Metaphysics

http://www.mysticalwonders.org/group/ Popular Metaphysical Forum with scientists, authors, researchers and new agers. For the current in the 19th century German idealism see Naturphilosophie Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature (from In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part Philosophy of religion is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion including arguments over the nature and existence of God religious Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties The philosophy of perception concerns how mental processes and Symbols depend on the world internal and external to the perceiver Larrys Text, lecture notes Larry used to teach a class Feel free to make this page conform to our NPOV policy--remove first-person arguments attribute The question of free will For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. David Malet Armstrong (born July 8, 1926) often D M Armstrong, is an Australian Philosopher. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born George Berkeley (ˈbɑrkli (12 March 1685 14 January 1753 also known as Bishop Berkeley, was a Philosopher. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480&ndash524 or 525 was a Christian philosopher of the 6th century Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder David John Chalmers (born April 20, 1966) is a Philosopher in the area of Philosophy of mind. Roderick M Chisholm (born Seekonk Massachusetts in 1916 died Providence Rhode Island in 1999 was an American philosopher known for his work Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (ஆனந்த குமாரசுவாமி 22 August, 1877, Colombo - 9 September, 1947, Darren Arthur Daulton (born January 3, 1962 in Arkansas City Kansas) nicknamed Dutch, is a former Catcher in Major League Baseball Donald Herbert Davidson ( March 6, 1917  &ndash August 30, 2003) was an American Philosopher, who served as Slusser Gilles Deleuze ( (January 18 1925 &ndash November 4 1995 was a French philosopher of the late 20th century René Guénon ( November 15 1886 – January 7 1951) was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (ˈhʊsɛrl April 8 1859 – April 26 1938) was a philosopher, known as the father of Peter van Inwagen is John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Mahmoud Khatami (b January 4 1963 in Iran) is an Iranian Philosopher. Jaegwon Kim (born 1934 in Daegu, Korea (now in South Korea) is a Korean born American Philosopher currently working at Saul Aaron Kripke (born on November 13, 1940 in Bay Shore New York) is an American philosopher and Logician now Emeritus David Kellogg Lewis ( September 28, 1941  &ndash October 14, 2001) is considered to have been one of the leading philosophers of the latter John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart ( September 3, 1866 – January 18, 1925) was an Idealist metaphysicist. "GE Moore" redirects here For the cofounder of Intel see Gordon Moore. Thomas Nagel (born July 4 1937 is an American Philosopher, currently University Professor and Professor of Philosophy and Law Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist Derek Parfit (born December 11, 1942) is a British Philosopher who specializes in problems of personal identity, Rationality Parmenides of Elea ( Greek:, early 5th century BC was an Ancient Greek Philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) (September 10 1839 &ndash April 19 1914 was an American Logician mathematician, philosopher Robert Maynard Pirsig (born September 6, 1928, Minneapolis Minnesota) is an American Writer and Philosopher, mainly known Alvin Carl Plantinga (born 1932 is a contemporary American Philosopher known for his work in Epistemology, Metaphysics, and the Philosophy Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Plotinus ( Greek:) (ca AD 204–270 was a major philosopher of the ancient world who is widely considered the founder of Neoplatonism (along with his Hilary Whitehall Putnam (born July 31 1926 is an American Philosopher who has been a central figure in Western philosophy since the 1960s especially in Philosophy Willard Van Orman Quine (June 25 1908 Akron, Ohio &ndash December 25 2000 (known to intimates as "Van" Richard McKay Rorty (October 4 1931 - June 8 2007 was an American Philosopher. Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (21 June 1905 &ndash 15 April 1980 commonly known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (ʒɑ̃ pol saʁtʁə was a French Wilfrid Stalker Sellars ( May 20, 1912 - July 2, 1989) was an American philosopher John Jamieson Carswell "Jack" Smart AC (born 1920 often referred to as J Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, Rudolf Steiner ( 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian philosopher literary scholar educator artist playwright Richard G Swinburne (born December 26, 1934) is an eminent British Professor and Philosopher primarily interested in the Alfred North Whitehead, OM ( February 15 1861, Ramsgate, Kent, England &ndash December 30 1947, Advaita Vedanta ( IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit अद्वैत वेदान्त əd̪vait̪ə veːd̪ɑːnt̪ə is a sub-school of the Dvaita ( Kannada: ದ್ವೈತ Devanagari:द्बैत is a dualist school of Vedanta Hindu philosophy. Buddhist philosophy deals extensively with problems in Metaphysics, phenomenology, Ethics, and Epistemology. See Cosmology (disambiguation. Cosmology is the branch of Philosophy and Metaphysics that deals with the World Dualism denotes a state of two parts The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two". The Vienna Circle (in German: der Wiener Kreis) was a group of philosophers who gathered around Moritz Schlick when he Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Logical positivism (later and more accurately called logical empiricism) is a school of philosophy that combines Empiricism, the idea that observational evidence is The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. In Philosophy, meta-ethics (sometimes called "analytic ethics" is the branch of Ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties The metaphysics of Quality (MOQ is a Theory of Reality introduced in Robert Pirsig 's philosophical Novel, Zen and the Art Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing is a philosophical position that argues that Existence is without objective meaning Purpose In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part In Philosophy, personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person that which makes him or her unique Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature origins and usage of Language. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties Philosophy of religion is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the philosophical study of religion including arguments over the nature and existence of God religious Pluralism is the name of entirely unrelated positions in Metaphysics and Epistemology. The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda (Sanskrit paticcasamuppāda; rten Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in a Reality that is completely Ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes linguistic practices beliefs Reason involves the ability to think understand and draw Conclusions in an Abstract way as in Human thinking Quantum mysticism is the claim that the laws of Quantum mechanics incorporate mystical ideas similar to those found in certain religious traditions or New Age beliefs Simulated reality is the proposition that Reality could be simulated—perhaps by Computer simulation —to a degree indistinguishable from "true" Reality Substance theory, or substance attribute theory, is an ontological theory about objecthood, positing that a substance is distinct from its Taoism (pronounced /ˈdaʊɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊɪzəm/ also spelled '''Daoism''') refers to a variety of related Philosophical and Religious traditions Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective In philosophy a theory of everything or TOE is an ultimate all-encompassing explanation of Nature or Reality. For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of This article details time travel itself For other uses see Time Traveler. In Philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey three different but related primary meanings all of them derived from the word's literal

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Butchvarov, Panayot (1979). Panayot Butchvarov (born April 2, 1933, in Sofia Bulgaria) left Syracuse University in 1968 as a full professor to move to the University of Iowa Being Qua Being: A Theory of Identity, Existence and Predication. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press.
• Harris, E. E. (1965). The Foundations of Metaphysics in Science. London: George Allen and Unwin.
• Harris, E. E. (2000). The Restitution of Metaphysics. New York: Humanity Books.
• Kant, I (1781). Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Critique of Pure Reason. The Critique of Pure Reason (Kritik der reinen Vernunft by Immanuel Kant, first published in 1781, second edition 1787, is one
• Gale, Richard M. (2002). The Blackwell Guide to Metaphysics. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Lowe, E. J. (2002). A Survey of Metaphysics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Loux, M. J. (2006). Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction (3rd ed. ). London: Routledge.
• Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa Ed. Ernest Sosa is currently a Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University. (1999). Metaphysics: An Anthology. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies.
• Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa, Ed. Ernest Sosa is currently a Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University. (2000). A Companion to Metaphysics. Malden Massachusetts, Blackwell, Publishers.

External links

• Astral Society The Internet's Largest Metaphysical Community
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Metaphysics" (by Peter van Inwagen).
• Aristotle's Metaphysics trans. by W. D. Ross
• Aristotle's Metaphysics trans. by Hugh Tredennick (HTML at Perseus)
• Aristotle's Metaphysics at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: Mirrored at eBooks@Adelaide
• E-text (The Norman Kemp Smith translation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason)
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entry under OBJECT, by Henry Laycock
• Metaphysics: Multiple Meanings A page that succinctly differentiates between various uses of the term "metaphysics. Norman Kemp Smith (1872–1958 was a Philosopher who lectured at Princeton University and was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics "
• Ways of Seeing - A common sense exploration of modern metaphysics.

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